Well.....the 1600 is new, the 3600 and Mach 1 doesn't need an update so that leaves the 900. Roland has said he wants to create a larger difference in performance between the Mach 1, 900 and 1200. The 1200 became the 1600, the Mach 1 doesn't need any change in specs, so the 900 needs to be improved to be more in between those two.

"We have new mounts coming that are an improvement over the previous models. The new 1600 has many more features and options than the 1200 mount had. It is also much more accurate in guiding. This year you will see a new mount that replaces the old 900 mount with similar features as the 1600. These new mounts are totally new designs, and not just an adaptation of the older ones. They can hold more weight and you can place cables thru the mount axes."

....I suggest Fiorano:)...besides car references I am really curious too about the successor of the AP900. The 900 is next to get for my collection of mounts I wonder if we will see more used ones hit the market as people upgrade.
Andy

....I suggest Fiorano:)...besides car references I am really curious too about the successor of the AP900. The 900 is next to get for my collection of mounts I wonder if we will see more used ones hit the market as people upgrade.
Andy

I suspect you will, seems to have been more 1200's available used once the 1600 started to ship.

Well according to the latest email, it will be called AP1100. My recollection of the shipping lag for the AP1600 was about 4 months; however I am not at the beginning of the shipping queue. All that being said, I am hopeful of getting mine this spring.

Roland said today that this new mount will have a 100-120lb capacity still TBD and it will weigh 42 lbs (26+16). This is like 10 lbs lighter than the 900 I think?

No it's one pound lighter than the 900GTO. The 900 has a 17 pound DEC and 26 pound RA so they have reduced the DEC by a pound. The quoted total weight of the 900GTO is 54 pounds but includes the 10 pound counterweight shaft. However, how fantastic is it that they were able to reduce any weight but significantly increase the payload capacity by 50%.

However, how fantastic is it that they were able to reduce any weight but significantly increase the payload capacity by 50%.

Perhaps the AP900/1200 mounts are significantly overbuilt so they are just eating into the conservative spec before? My AP1200 looks and feels very overdesigned.The (costly to make) setting circles are gone however